Carmen

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Carmen
Member
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:09 am
My tercel:: 83 Sr5 Stock

Carmen

Post by Carmen »

Greets!

I'm Carmen, a 1983 Tercel 4wd with 165,000 miles. I've lived in San Diego my whole life with only 1 driver until just last week. The majority of my miles were during my glory years from '83 to '97, during which I racked up 147k on my odometer. After that I got shuffled aside and driven only 18k over the course of 17 years! Driver got old, and finally decided to let me go. I moved North this week with my original pink-slip and blue California plates from 1983. So as of right now I'm sitting just a hair over 165,000 miles young! My new driver is already showing a much needed appreciation for me. I like to think of myself as a gem, though I definitely need some work.

I was basically gushing oil when new owner picked me up. That seems to have subsided, seems like someone overfilled me...the leak has magically trickled to a near stop. Originally I was drip drip drip drip drip. Also I only had 10psi of air in each tire. Guess I'd been sitting too long! 1st gear was difficult to engage, and after driver would get it in I'd lurch back and forth lubadubadub. 2nd was more of the same, to a lesser degree. After that I shifted smooth as butter! But hey, what can you expect from a transmission that hasn't had new gear oil in 20 years?

My engine is rock solid. New driver and I went 405 miles on 10.93 gallons of premium. That's 37 mpg!! He was stunned. Like I mentioned before there's some oil leakage, but it seems to have slowed down. Definitely going to need a handful of new hoses, mine are all crispy. I get the feeling my gaskets are a bit creaky too! Body as clean as a whistle. A few tiny dimples and that's it. Otherwise straight as an arrow! No rust aside from a smidge below the battery. I'm a true California car, born and raised. The sun has done a number on my paint though, but new owner claims he'll take care of that....we'll see. My drivers side is pristine, passenger side there's clearly some nonsense going on. Faded paint here and there, clearcoat missing. Parts look pristine and others faded.

My interior is in great condition for being so old! Really cool plaid if I do say so myself. Tiltometer working always. Tape deck will blow your ears out, I'm loud!

So far new owner gave me a new air filter, swapped out my tranny gear oil (did the 50/50 atf flush-a-mbob today). Waiting on seals for my new CV's to come in Saturday, as you can see in one of the pictures the CV's seen better days. So up next I'll get raised up and get this ATF otta my gearbox, trade it for some proper 25/75 synth/85 blend and get some new CV axles put in. It's amazing how much even just the new flush-fluid has improved my shifting. New driver thought I was going to need a rebuilt tranny, seems doubtful now :)

Also new struts/rear shocks are coming in the near future, mine are totally toast. New upper and lower rad hoses too, squeeze mine and be reminded of dried out toast!

Anyways, that's enough for this post. Nice to meet you all! Thanks for all your past posts, definitely saving newguy a million headaches and making my life easier as a car!

Cheers, to a million miles!
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-Carmen
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snephi11
Advanced Member
Posts: 57
Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2014 11:31 am
My tercel:: 1986 Tercel SR5 manual(duh)

Re: Carmen

Post by snephi11 »

Ooowee! That's a looker!
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marlinh
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Posts: 1584
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2012 9:15 am
My tercel:: 'Everett' Blue 87 4WD Wagon (Rocky 86, recently retired)
Location: Kootenays

Re: Carmen

Post by marlinh »

Very nice ride! Glad you found a good new home.
Carmen
Member
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:09 am
My tercel:: 83 Sr5 Stock

Re: Carmen

Post by Carmen »

Per sweet eh Sethie boy? Too bad driver wasn't less busy because it'd sure be a treat to drive up for the wedding rather than him fly.. Tragically don't have 15 days of travel time to spare bahahaha. Although with enough people maybe a drive straight through could be accomplished?

When driver was changing mein air filter he noticed the gasket that's sort of glued to the top of the filter holder thing was way out of round, is that normal? I'd assume it's supposed to be circular like the filter so that it makes a seal? Can anyone confirm?
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irowiki
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Posts: 3463
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2013 10:02 am
Location: Farmington, NM

Re: Carmen

Post by irowiki »

Most of the cars I've had or seen don't even have that gasket/seal anymore! I'd assume it needs to be round though.
Former Tercel Enthusiast (not a practical family car anymore but they still have a place in my heart)

Site administrator, if something is broken, PM me!

87 Corolla FX16, 105k
94 Jamboree RV (Ford E-350), 90k
95 Camry Wagon, 170k
97 4runner, 275k
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dlb
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Posts: 7305
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:03 pm
My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: Carmen

Post by dlb »

yes, that rubber is supposed to be round. but all of the air filters i have seen now are made with rubber on the top and bottom so no need for the glued rubber strip in the air filter housing anyway.
Carmen
Member
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:09 am
My tercel:: 83 Sr5 Stock

Re: Carmen

Post by Carmen »

Ahh, right on. Thanks for the quick reply. It'll probably just get taken off in that case, better not there than being there messing w/ the seal.
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Gottolovem
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Posts: 1637
Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2012 4:28 pm
My tercel:: 1985 SR5 with snow plow,1987 auto 1984 parts car,1987 FX-16 GTS
Location: Reno

Re: Carmen

Post by Gottolovem »

kinda funny I bought a tercel up in Montana and I thought it had a bad respray! After seeing the same weird "spotty" paint fade on your passenger side it makes me wonder :| both cars look as if they have had just one quarter resprayed.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10271&hilit=the+montana+run
Carmen
Member
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:09 am
My tercel:: 83 Sr5 Stock

Re: Carmen

Post by Carmen »

Right? Seems so strange. I'll be getting new paint sometime in the nearer future, which is a bummer because one side is so pristine!

I'd have to think if you were respraying you'd do full panels though right? Like the one pillar behind the passenger rear door changes halfway up. Really mysterious.
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dlb
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Posts: 7305
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:03 pm
My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: Carmen

Post by dlb »

my corolla must have had some left side damage because that side is a nice shiny red but you can clearly see where they stopped spraying. the shiny area ends with little spots as it fades into the old faded red on the roof of the car. i guess that's the nature of repainting portions that are not removable, like doors or front fenders.
drege
Top Notch Member
Posts: 324
Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:29 pm
My tercel:: Hadatercel
Location: Oakland, ca

Re: Carmen

Post by drege »

Nice first person post.
I used to have a myspace for my chevelle.
It takes more fossil fuel resources to produce new vehicles than it would take to maintain and fuel any 70's or 80's vehicle for a million miles.
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Carmen
Member
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:09 am
My tercel:: 83 Sr5 Stock

Re: Carmen

Post by Carmen »

Glad ya liked it Dr.
I bet she had more attitude than me, I'm but a humble Toyota ;)
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Mattel
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Posts: 1788
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 12:11 am
My tercel:: 1988 Corolla 4wd Wagon (AKA Corolla All-trac) 5speed, AC, Power Sunroof, Windows, Mirrors, Steering, Locking, Diff Lock, 14" Corolla SX Alloys with Silica Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, 210,000kms
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Carmen

Post by Mattel »

Might I be as forward as to suggest that although your fading door frames and gutters do signify some umm maturity some masking, light sanding, a bit of a recoat in Mat Black paint would bring out your best.
Previous: 83 Tercel SR5 4wd, 84 Tercel SR5 4wd
88 Corolla 4wd Wagon 5speed, All power options, Fact Sunroof, Diff Lock, 14" SX Alloys, Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, Tow Bar, 210,000kms
Carmen
Member
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:09 am
My tercel:: 83 Sr5 Stock

Re: Carmen

Post by Carmen »

How dare you, good day sir!
I say harummf! I say good day! I'm a proper lady, how dare you suggest... :wink:

You may. I think the plan is a whole new coat of paint. Gonna go with the original salmon color too. I'm moving to MN before summer is over, so hopefully driver will get that done. Apparently MN winter = salted roads = tons of rust. So a new coat should add a layer to protect the body panels.

That's the thinking anyways. It's also possible that he might just find one of my sisters and she can be the winter ride while I sit inside by a nice cozy heater. In that case a new coat is questionable since it's less justifiable.

Cheers, thanks for the tip!

Surprising how that paint is all but gone.
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Petros
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Posts: 11930
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Carmen

Post by Petros »

I have noticed on the many tercels I have owned that often a body shop would do minor repairs, but repaint and blend out the matched after market paint. And you can always see where the original factory paint is (unfaded), and the repair paint was applied over it. One time the cheap after market fender they had put on was not only faded from gold to dull grey, it was also rusted through in several places, even though the rest of the car was rust free. I happened to have a factory gold fender in my garage from a 2wd wagon that go parted out. I replaced the fender and the paint matched the rest of the car perfectly (the fender even came from a car from a different state!). I just had to use rubbing compound to rub off the blending of the faded repair paint on the door. the car looked good as new.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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